A lesbian couple married in San Francisco in 2004 (Wikimedia) In 2012, ONS data showed that the number of LGBT or same-sex couples dissolving their marriages jumped by 20 per cent. Of the 794 that filed for marriage dissolution, more than half or 60 per cent were female or lesbian couples. The UK ratified LGBT civil unions as legal in 2005. Since then for the duration of seven years now, dissolved unions by gay couples were only 3.2 per cent, compared to lesbian couples which were at a whopping 6.1 per cent. Though marketed to heterosexual men, lesbian pulp fiction provided an identity to isolated women in the 1950s. (Wikimedia) “This reflects trends in a heterosexual marriage because women are more prone to say they want to marry – but they’re also more likely to initiate a divorce,” Gunnar Andersson, a professor of demography at Stockholm University, was quoted by CQ News. “Women usually have higher demands on relationship quality, that’s often been said in studies. Even if you control for age there is still a trend of more women ending partnerships than men.” Such innate attitude runs in the female biological gamut. In fact, in 2011 in the UK, British women in heterosexual relationships were found to have been the aggressive initiators in two-thirds of divorce cases filed in the country. “Culturally women have been more conditioned to be focused on marriage than men,” Jane Czyzselska, editor of the lesbian magazine DIVA, said. “The stereotype of the lesbian couple who take a U-Haul on their second date, move in and get cats is there for a reason. Because of the cultural conditioning that we have, women do seem to be committing faster.” Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out in the media as well as her sitcom, “ranks, hands down, as the single most public exit in gay history”, changing media portrayals of lesbians in Western culture (Wikimedia) To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: To contact the editor, e-mail:

The Internet, technology and big data are transforming our society. … We cant stop every plot, much as we try and much as we would like to. There are choices ahead that will determine whether we can sustain what we do, or accept that it will erode. Debate on balancing security and peoples individual privacy has been percolating since Snowden detailed the extent to which the NSA collects data on its citizens and shares some of that data with partner nations around the world. Three groups filed a recent lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights, accusing Britains eavesdropping agency of using its online surveillance programs to violate peoples privacy. English PEN, Big Brother Watch and the Open Rights Group claim that Britains Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ, acted illegally by collecting vast amounts of data, including the contents of emails and social media messages. Britains domestic security agency of MI5 and its foreign spy service of MI6 rely heavily on tips and backup from GCHQ. Shifts in technology can erode our capabilities, he said. There are choices to be made, including for example, about how and whether communications data is retained. It is not, however, an option to disregard such shifts with an unspoken assumption that somehow security will anyway be sustained. It will not. We cannot work without tools. Suicide bombers attacked Britain in 2005, killing 52 London commuters. Since then, British nationals have been linked to several international terror plots, including the trans-Atlantic bomb plot when men planned to down some 10 jets using liquid explosives inside drink bottles. Several thousand Islamist extremists are known in the UK who see the British people as a legitimate target, Parker said. Many of those have been energized by the Syria conflict and some 100 or so have traveled to Syria to participate some of whom may pose a threat in the future to the UK, Parker said.

UK hiring speeds up, pay inflation sharpest since early 2008

Credit: Reuters/Luke MacGregor LONDON | Tue Oct 8, 2013 12:20am BST LONDON (Reuters) – Hiring for permanent jobs in Britain gained pace last month and salaries posted the fastest rise in nearly six years, adding to signs of labour market strength which could bring forward a rise in interest rates. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said on Tuesday that its seasonally adjusted index of permanent staff placements rose to 62.2 from 61.3 in August, matching levels common before the financial crisis. Readings above 50 indicate growth in appointments compared with a month earlier. Salaries awarded to people placed in permanent positions rose at the fastest pace since February 2008. “(The) figures show the jobs market continues to be the success story in the UK economy, with all regions and sectors experiencing growth,” said REC chief executive Kevin Green. “The number of people being placed into permanent roles has now been growing continually for a year.” The REC survey, co-sponsored by business consultants KPMG, chimes with the predominant view in financial markets that Britain’s central bank will raise interest rates much earlier than it has indicated. The Bank of England said in August it would keep borrowing costs at 0.5 percent while unemployment remained above 7 percent, something it expected for at least another three years. The official jobless rate now stands at 7.7 percent. The Bank also said it would drop its commitment to ultra-low rates if inflation looked likely to get out of control. Overall vacancies and temporary job placements are rising sharply and pay for temporary workers is also picking up, the REC poll of recruitment agencies found. That chimes with other recent data, including surveys of purchasing managers in services, manufacturing and construction which showed the fastest rise in employment in six years in September. REC said demand for permanent and temporary workers was growing.